[Intro] (a bright calypso lilt: steel pan and calypso guitar over a bouncing tuba-and-ragtime-piano groove, clarinet and banjo trading, muted trumpet, brushed drums, playful and witty, spring reverb) [Verse 1] (bouncing tuba and calypso guitar under a wry vocal, ragtime piano tickling, steel pan glinting, tape saturation) You wrote it down so careful, underlined it twice in red "Do not call him after midnight," that's what the good note said You've got a whole entire folder of the wisdom you have earned And you have never, ever opened it, not once, not once you've learned [Pre-Chorus] (clarinet and banjo climbing, the bounce leaning forward) 'Cause the lesson goes in one door and it files itself away And you nod like you'll remember, and you do the same next day [Chorus] (full steel pan and horns bloom, close harmonies bouncing, comic and bright) For future reference, for future reference You keep a careful record you are never gonna read Every hard-won little lesson, neatly noted, filed and freed And you'll make the same mistake again with your notes right there beside ya For future reference, that you'll ignore [Verse 2] (back to the calypso bounce, banjo and clarinet answering, ragtime piano rolling) "Don't trust a man named Randy, don't co-sign, don't drink the punch" "Do not text your feelings, do not skip the actual lunch" You could publish the collection, it'd be twelve fat volumes long And you'd read it in a bookstore and then go and do it wrong [Pre-Chorus] (horns and steel pan building) 'Cause knowing ain't the same as doing, and the ink don't run the show The head writes down the memo, but the heart won't let it go [Chorus] (fuller, horns and harmonies wide, joyous and comic) For future reference, for future reference You keep a careful record you are never gonna read Every hard-won little lesson, neatly noted, filed and freed And you'll make the same mistake again with your notes right there beside ya For future reference, that you'll ignore [Bridge] (drops to ragtime piano and a hushed vocal and soft banjo, then a witty build back up) And maybe that's just being human, maybe that's the joke on us We're the only animal that documents the same recurring bust So you'll write it down tomorrow, "learned my lesson, this time sure" And you'll file it very neatly, for future reference, that you'll ignore [Instrumental solo] (a dazzling steel-pan and clarinet solo trading virtuosic playful lines with ragtime piano and muted trumpet over the bouncing tuba, banjo driving, building) [Final Chorus] (biggest lift, steel pan and horns blazing, comic and full) For future reference, for future reference The smartest, dumbest creature keeping notes it'll never heed You'll be back here Sunday morning saying "how'd I not foresee" With the answer sitting written down in the folder right beside ya For future reference, that you'll ignore [Outro] (the steel pan and calypso guitar ride the bounce down, tuba and banjo landing it, muted trumpet flourish, spring reverb trailing off)
